Notre Dame center Martin out for year

November 24, 2013|By Brian Hamilton | Tribune reporter

Nick Martin's knee twisted in a way that knees aren't supposed to twist on Saturday, and the Notre Dame center labored to get up, hopping on his right leg so his left leg wouldn't bear weight. Then he went down again. Then he went out, not to return.

Following the traditional senior day lap around the stadium, left tackle Zack Martin saw his little brother and nothing seemed awry. The only lament: Disappointment in not sharing more of the afternoon with his sibling and linemate.

“Yeah, yeah, it was (tough), especially so early on in the game,” Zack Martin said. “But we had another guy, Matt (Hegarty), step in and he did a great job. It's kind of been the story of our O-line: We've had guys shuffling through all year and the guys that have come in have done a great job.”

Add another chapter to the story this week. Nick Martin is in fact not all right, suffering a “significant knee injury” against BYU on Saturday, according to Irish coach Brian Kelly, which will shelve the junior for the regular-season finale and any bowl game.

The fluidity and resiliency of the offensive line will receive its biggest test immediately, when it will take punches in the mouth from a rapacious Stanford defense that has 34 sacks — a total surpassed by only five other teams. So far, though, the in-and-out on the line hasn't resulted in much up-and-down.

“It could be an absolute disaster,” Kelly said. “If you think about the entire right side as well as missing Chris Watt for a game, you're talking about three and four different guys going in there on the offensive line at times.

“Coach (Harry) Hiestand has done an incredible job putting this line together as a unit. I'll go back to summer workouts — they stayed together as unit during the summer and worked hard together. That unit mentality has served us well.”

First it was freshman Steve Elmer subbing in after Christian Lombard's back surgery. Now it's Elmer and Conor Hanratty trading series at right guard while Hegarty steps in at center, less than a year removed from heart surgery that followed a mild stroke.

Deciphering Stanford's looks and potential pressures will fall to Zack Martin and Watt, most likely, who will convey the information to Hegarty. But against BYU, at least, there was no communication breakdown.

“Hegarty taking the snaps and understanding the counts — we do a lot of checking, and he did a great job of staying calm and communicating well,” quarterback Tommy Rees said.

Despite the shuffling, the Irish have allowed seven sacks in 11 games. Only Toledo, with five, has surrendered fewer. Rees lauded his line for giving him time to get to his fourth or fifth target on his progressions against BYU. There were 200-plus rushing yards, to boot.

Zack Martin broke into a grin about the sub-freezing temperature context, too, saying it was a lineman's dream. More than any team, though, Stanford has nightmare-inducing personnel.

“You cannot play finesse football against Stanford,” Kelly said.

So the right guards might rotate. The center will be new. And with a new twist: Hegarty is left-handed. “We joke around with him being a southpaw — bring in closer, a lefty,” Rees said.

There's no other choice now, just as a retooled line must have it all together.